


Solo Competition

by theinvisibledude



Category: The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Genre: Gen, figure skating AU, i'd like to thank the gothic lit discord for supporting my ideas, it's called self care, sometimes you gotta write a self indulgent figure skating au, y'all are the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 17:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20933891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theinvisibledude/pseuds/theinvisibledude
Summary: au where dorian gray is a figure skater





	Solo Competition

_ “Up next, taking the ice is Dorian Gray! Last time he was at the Olympics was 8 years ago, along with his partner, Sibyl Vane and took home a gold medal. Since then, Dorian has gone solo and been training under Henry Wotton...” _

The voice over the loudspeakers was annoying. That’s what he’s decided. He just wanted to get on the ice and start. God, those pictures of him and Sibyl infuriated him. It was bad enough that  _ she _ was here as well, with her new partner, Basil. Dorian smoothed out the wrinkles in his jacket, puffing out his cheeks and exhaling. That was when he noticed that his hands were shaking. Dorian crossed his arms, squishing his hands between his ribs and arms in an attempt to stop the trembling. 

“Now remember to keep your cool. Don’t forget what we’ve talked about. You've spent the last 8 years training for this. Ignore everyone else and-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Dorian cut Henry off, walking to the rink. The crowd was getting restless. Dorian glanced up at the screen to see a picture of him and Sibyl while they were performing. His outfit was nearly identical to the one pictured, only darker and he looked just as great now as he did back then.

Dorian took off the skate guards, handing them to Henry before taking the ice. He skated to the center of the ice and took a deep breath. He looked down, raising his arms above his head and waited for the music to start.

_ 8 years earlier _

“You have to be more careful!” Sibyl screamed as she skated towards the edge of the rink and off the ice. 

"Hey, what's going on here?" Their coach asked, approaching Sibyl. 

"Dorian is trying to kill me!"

"Oh calm down," Dorian snapped, crossing his arms against his chest, not moving from the middle of the ice. "I was not."

"You nearly dropped me!"

"It was an  _ accident _ . Relax, stop getting so hysterical." He skated past her and off the rink, grabbing his skate guards and walking towards the locker room. 

"I can't skate with him, Alan. It's becoming too much, I don't trust him anymore," he heard Sibyl say. Most of the time, the things she's said never bothered him. Never made him stop. Today wasn't one of those days. 

Dorian stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the pair. "Fine! If you can't trust me then find a  _ new _ partner! I quit," he yelled. 

"Dorian, surely you don't mean that," Alan started, his voice soft. 

"Oh, but I do. Find her a new partner, I'm going solo with a  _ better _ coach." 

He had been thinking about splitting off anyway. This wasn't a spur of the moment idea. When the video of them training together and Sibyl falling and getting injured was leaked to the press, the idea of a solo career was starting to look desirable. All those news stories, trying to slander his name.The reason she fell is because he failed to catch her. Thankfully she didn't hit her head. But it still looked deliberate and the press made spun their stories in that way. It had gotten annoying.

So he went solo. Him and Sibyl split up and Dorian began skating alone. His new coach, Henry Wotton, had a different training style than his previous one. Alan's approach was methodical, scientific. Everything had a purpose. Sometimes Dorian thought he'd make a better scientist than figure skating coach. 

Henry, on the other hand, had a more intense style. Every practice session left Dorian feeling exhausted and wanting to collapse. Henry always claimed that it was to make him better. To get him good enough to win. And it paid off. It got him to the Olympics, the only thing that matters to Dorian. The only thing he had cared about for the past 8 years. But it changed him.

Dorian was rarely ever seen without Henry Wotton by his side. Whispering in his ear. Telling him what he should do and say. He spent more time on the ice. More time skating and getting better. More and more and more. Day in and day out. But this was all worth it, right?

All of the whispering and gossip behind his back was just the pain he had to endure. That this was all going to amount in another shiny gold medal to take home. No matter what the members on his team thought, which shouldn't matter anyway because he went solo  _ 8 years ago _ , was all just bumps in the road. 

Dorian would be lying if he didn't admit that it bothered him. He didn't like this kind of attention. He thought that going to the Olympics again would be fun. Better than the last time. He thought he was done with people talking about him. But he caught one of the skaters on the French team, a tall, dark haired man, talking shit about him to his teammates. As Dorian walked past the group, he glared at him, only for the dark haired man to glare back, his green eyes staring into Dorian's soul. He almost stopped, ready to start an argument with him when Henry materialized out of nowhere to grab Dorian by the arm and take him away. Back to the locker room to get ready. Dorian didn't need to worry himself about what the French thought. All he needed to worry about was what the judges thought. 

As Dorian skated off the ice he felt good. He felt proud of himself. He thought he was going to win. To get the gold. So when the scores came in and revealed that Dorian came in  _ second _ , he wanted to scream. To cry. All of that hard work,  _ only for a silver medal? _ He sat there, staring at the screen, hoping that maybe he was imagining it. Dorian Gray was  _ not _ second best. 

"This isn't fair," he whispered, gripping the chair he was sitting in hard enough his knuckles turned white. "This isn't fair, I deserve b-"

"Hold it together, Dorian. Don't get upset now," Henry said, covering Dorian's hand with his own. "Not in front of the cameras. You don't want to ruin your image."

Dorian glanced at him and took a deep breath. Henry was right. He can't get upset about this now. He can wait until later. Until he was alone and no one was watching him. And that was what he did. He made it through the rest of the competition, he made it through the ceremony. There were no signs of breaking. No signs of weakness. He didn't even cry when he got back to the hotel room. No, he waited until he was back home to break down. No one was truly watching him then. He didn't have to put a show on for anyone else when he was alone in his house.

He wasn't sure at what point during his breakdown that he decided he was truly finished with figure skating but Dorian knew, coming out of it, that was the only logical next step. If he wasn't the best, he wouldn't settle for less. He didn't need to continue on. Dorian didn't get the gold, and he didn't want to try anymore.


End file.
